Earth 8 Batman vol 2: Jason and Uncle Joker
by Gabriel Vargas
Summary: This is an AU story taking place on one of the infinte earths of the original DC multiverse. This is the followup to my first story Anniversary. Joker has been gone for 2 yrs and is back in town to inititate the new Batman. Reviews welcome. Now complete!
1. Chapter 1

_This story takes place on an alternate earth that would have existed as the original DC Mulitverse had not been destroyed on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Earth 8 is a world that is populated mostly with characters created after the COIE or have had a post-Crisis revamp. On this world, Superman stayed dead after his battle with Doomsday and Batman did not live through Knightfall._

_This was originally posted at the Multiverse as E8: Batman #5 on 7/26/07. For more Earth 8 stories, visit the Multiverse by clicking the link in my profile. Feel free to review my work._

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**Earth 8 Batman**

**Jason and Uncle Joker **

**Part 1**

**Written by: Gabriel Vargas**

_This has to be a bad dream._ Arturo Rodriguez Jr., known as A.J. to his friends and most of his classmates in Mrs. Gallagher's second grade class at Gotham Catholic Elementary thought to himself. His arms and legs were duct-taped together as he sat on the plush sofa in the living room of the suburban-Gotham home he lived in with his parents. A.J. was a spitting image of his father and namesake, who was a well-known television personality who liked to push the envelope and people's buttons. He looked across the room directly at his father, who also had his arms and legs bound together and was sitting in a beige chair taken from their medieval dining room set.

A.J. surveyed the room and everything was a complete disaster compared to how he remembered it before he had gone to bed that night. The couch perpendicular and to his right, which was similar to the one he was sitting on but smaller, was overturned and it's cushions were scattered around the living room. The screen of the television was completely smashed in and the bat that did it was still laying in the whole it created. All of the picture frames, documenting their various activities and outings as a family were smashed on the ground, as were all of the vases, leaving water stains on the rug. The family portrait, which hung above the television, was off-center and had eyeglasses, googley-eyes, mustaches, tongues sticking out and soul patches drawn on each member of the family with a black magic marker. A.J. heard loud crashing noises coming from the kitchen, which he assumed were the plates and glasses hitting the floor and breaking. He also heard similar noises coming from his parent's room.

A.J. continued to look to his father for some reassurance, for some strength, and hope that this nightmare would soon be over, but Arturo Rodriguez, who had a beanie-baby stuffed in his mouth, was crying hysterically, with the gag muffling most of his sobbing. His face was caked in a mixture of blood, sweat and tears and his black hair was matted down with blood from a gash on his scalp. His face was swollen, as if he had been in a heavyweight prizefight. The collared shirt and tie he wore were covered in blood and vomit. A.J. was shocked to see his father in this manner. He always envisioned him as a superhero, like Superman, invulnerable, capable of accomplishing astonishing feats of strength, but as the world found out when Superman died, and as Arturo Rodriguez Jr. was finding out now about his father, there are some things that out there that can break and kill even a man of steel.

Arturo Rodriguez was constantly looking down at the floor, which is where his wife was currently lying face down. She was not bound or gagged in anyway, but remained silent and still. She had been that way since A.J. was brought into the room and wondered how she could do it while his father was losing control. An awful smell od decay began to creep into A.J.'s nostrils as he couldn't tell if his mother was breathing or not. "Mom…" A.J. said quivering, as it was barely audible coming out of his lips. Tears began to escape from his eyes as he closed them, trying to wish these images out of his head, before dismissing them as a bad dream. He hoped that it will soon be almost seven in the morning and his mother will wake him up with a gentle shake and a kiss. _It's only a dream_. He kept repeating to himself in his mind and would eventually say it out loud.

"I'm gonna tell you one thing sweetie," a female voice said as he felt her fall next to him on the couch and her arm snake around his shoulders making the young boy wince and quiver. "This is as real as it gets." A.J. opened his eyes and looked to the left and saw a slender woman sitting next to him. She wore an outfit that was like the one's he had seen pictures that a court jester's wear. The outfit was divided up into four sections with each section alternating between the colors of black and red and each section had three diamonds stitched into it in the opposite color. She wore jester-type shoes and a hat along with gloves in accordance to the alternating black and red pattern of the rest of her outfit. Her face was white like a piece of chalk and A.J. couldn't tell if it was paint or if that was really her skin, just like he couldn't tell if she was wearing a mask or if the areas around her eyes were just black and she never stopped smiling. It wasn't a subtle smile; it was a big toothy grin, showing a set of perfect white teeth.

A.J. felt more and more uneasy as the he looked at her, and with each passing minute, her arm around his shoulders would get heavier and heavier like dead weight. She moved her fingers up the back of his head, mimicking a spider and making A.J. wince as she began to scratch his head as if he were a dog and she were scratching it's ears. "Ya know… you're a cutie. I bet all of the little girls in your class would throw themselves off the top of City Hall for you." She said, keeping her smile the entire time, which made A.J. want to crawl out of his skin to get away from her. "Hey puddin', do ya think we can keep him?"

"Now, now Harley, you know what a big responsibility a pet is." A voice coming from his parent's room said then chuckled. During the first weeks of every school year, since he was in Kindergarten, the Gotham Police Department would come to A.J.'s class and give the typical talk about safety and talking to strangers and every year, the person giving the class a talk would spend time talking about well-known bad people to stay away from. The person walking out of his parents room towards him was the one everyone said if you see him, or see anyone with green hair, wearing a purple suit with an a green bow tie, flower on the lapel and the face of a clown, run away as fast as you can. He walked up to Harley and placed his gloved index finger under her chin. He bent over and rubbed his long pointed nose with hers, which made her squeal with delight. "You would have to clean him, feed him, take him for a walk and pick up after him. God forbid if he ever were to defecate on or chew up my spats, then there would be two more bodies for the overworked people at the county morgue to work on."

He slowly turned his head and faced the young boy, whose heart began to race and was visibly trembling. The man, just like the woman had white skin and never stopped smiling, but unlike the woman who had a perfect set of white teeth, this man's teeth were stained yellow and misshapen. He was breathing slowly and heavily through his teeth and his breath had the odor of rotting meat. His eyes were different than the woman's. Her eyes were blue and had a doeish appearance to go along with a glazed look in them like no one was home upstairs. His eyes were beady, red and bloodshot. There was an intensity behind them that made them look like they could turn coals into diamonds to go along with the glazed, nobody's home look. He stared into young A.J.'s eyes and seemed like he was gazing into the darkness of his soul, discovering his fears while simultaneously figuring out a way to skin him alive that would cause the most enjoyment for him. A.J. began to lose control of his bowels.

"You see Harl," the Joker said as both he and Harley Quinn had to recoil their noses and pinch them. "This is the kind of thing we can't be bothered with. Our schedule is much to busy." The Joker stood up and adjusted his jacket and turned his attention to Arturo, who was struggling against his bonds, wanting to help his son.

"You know Artie," The Joker began as he walked to Arturo's side. "I think it's safe to say that the little joke you're trying to play on us isn't very funny. I mean, how many other reporters would still protect their sources after I went to the trouble of sending their significant other on an all expenses paid trip to the big funhouse in the sky. I have to admit, it's quite admirable, that you would protect your journalistic integrity and some overstuffed pig from the sausage factory over the missus." He paused to chuckle for a bit, finding the situation funny. Arturo began to sob and cry more and more.

"Come on man," The Joker screamed into his ear. "Do you know what you're doing to your son? I'm sure junior has the same image of you that all us plebes have, the tall strong crusader for the people of Gotham, not afraid to take a side and tell it like it is. What do you think is going to happen to your boy when he goes back to school after this? All of the schoolyard bullies are going to have a field day with him after finding out his father is nothing more than a sniveling crybaby." Joker grabbed the beanie baby out of Arturo's mouth.

"You… you killed my wife… my love…" Arturo cried out.

"You say killed, I say it was a punch line delivered perfectly." The Joker kicked over the corpse of Angela Rodriguez and began to laugh hysterically and Harley did likewise, doubling over. Angela's body was now on her back and her head rolled over, looking straight at her son, sporting the same smile that have come across the face of hundreds of others that had become the victims of the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Mom…" A.J. said as he began to cry.

"Okay Arturo, enough is enough," Joker said as he continued to giggle. "We've got places to go, people to kill and things to do. I want the name of that nice policeman that gave you all of that confidential information on the Bats and their wonderful sidekicks, especially the ones that have come around during my little vacation." Arturo continued to cry and not divulge the source of his information and the Joker began to get annoyed with his reluctance.

"You know Harley, maybe we killed the wrong person on our way in here… what do you think pumpkin?" Harley nodded in agreement and grabbed A.J.'s neck while pulling out a switchblade.

"You psycho bitch," Arturo yelled. "You touch him, I'll fing kill you."

Joker grabbed a revolver out from his jacket and pistol whipped Arturo. He grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to his face, staring straight into his eyes. "Watch your mouth you miserable piece of trash." The Joker began as he threw Arturo back into his seat. "We have a minor the room man; do you want him to be scarred for life by hearing such foul language? Didn't you do a special about how the FCC wasn't doing enough to punish broadcast indecency and called for the head of the chairman?" Joker crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head in disapproval while Harley put her fingers to her mouth and gasped in shock. "To think, I thought you were an advocate of Family Values, tsk tsk."

"It's so sad to see our values as a society crumble." Harley said with sorrow in her voice and wiping an imaginary tear from her eye.

"Aw, now you made my Harley cry." Joker pointed the revolver in-between Arturo's eyes. "Good think I know what will make Harley feel a lot better… Give me that name." Joker said as pulled the hammer back and placed the gun to Arturo's forehead.

"It was Flass, Arnold Flass." Arturo screamed as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"See, was that so hard." Joker said as he pushed the hammer back into its non-firing position and placed it in its holster. "Well Harley, we better get going, we've got a busy day a head of us. Sorry about the wife, no hard feelings." Joker cackled as he slapped Arturo in the back. He placed his arm around Harley and they began to exit the house.

"Wait," Harley said as she turned around, looking at a weeping A.J. "Puddin, we can't leave him like that. We should do something nice for him."

"You're right Harley. I can't stand to see a kid cry and as you know, Uncle Joker loves the kids." Joker reached into his pocket and pulled out a multicolored ball and threw it in the direction of the Rodriguez family. It hit Angela in the head and rolled right below A.J.'s feet. Joker and Harley both began to laugh as they left, while a green smoke began to emanate from the ball.

* * *

_It begins with pain. A pain that is so intense that it causes a numbness of the mind, allowing the victim to resign themselves to their fate and their pain becomes so normal to them, that they begin to reminisce about a time when they didn't have the pain. It's a pain that if someone were lucky enough to survive, they would be feeling it in their bones forever._

_THIS pain is accompanied by a loud and maniacal laughter and the sound of steel hitting flesh as well as the crunching sound the bones make as they give into the force dealt by the blunt object. With each sickening thud, the laughter grows louder and louder, reaching to a pitch painful to the ears. Each downward blow causes the chalked-faced killer to grow more and more amused at the sight of blood and flesh being torn and thrown off the body of this sixteen year-old boy. He continues his deadly assault on the head and body, expanding the ever-present smile that already adorned his face._

_Between each strike, between the sound of the laughter, the bones breaking and flesh being ripped open, Jason Todd prayed for Batman… prayed for his father to come and rescue him, to put an end to this brutalization and take him home, but as time continued, Jason knew… he knew that Batman― that Bruce wasn't going to make it._

"Jason… SAVE ME… Jason… SAVE ME." _a female voice screamed in the distance._

_The beating had stopped sometime later, but the laughing continued in the background, taunting the youth known to the world as Robin, the Boy Wonder. Jason let out a moan as he struggled to pick up his head from the pool of blood it had been laying in. With the throbbing in his head and through the blood and tears in his eyes, he saw a woman bound to a pillar in the distance. She was blonde and he made out the green that comprised her outfit. Jason recognized the voice through the laughter as that of his mother, his biological mother who had betrayed him moments before and sacrificed him to keep her illegal activities secret._

"Jason… please SAVE ME." _she screamed again_.

_Jason gritted his teeth as he struggled to get to his feet and pick himself up from the pool of his own blood. Blood ran down from his face, legs, and arms, pooling in his green boots and gloves, giving them a tint of crimson and a bloated appearance, while his red tunic and yellow cape were in tatters. Jason slowly dragged his broken body towards his mother, trying to keep his eyes from rolling into the back of his head._

_Jason fell, despite his attempt to will himself through the broken bones, the throbbing migraine and the unresponsive body parts. He struggled to pick himself back up when a gloved hand reached out to help him up. Jason looked up and saw a yellow outline of a bat on a black suit. It was Cassandra Cain__― __Batgirl._

"How do you expect to save her or anyone?" _she said as she picked him up_. "How can you if you are unable to do what's necessary to save yourself?"

"SAVE ME Jason," _his mother pleaded in the distance. Jason continued to move toward her, leaving Batgirl behind. With each step, the pain in his body increased exponentially, in synch with the laughter in the background. Jason doubled over and grabbed his hair, trying to shut them both out, but without any success._

"Look at yourself." _A voice said to Jason's right. Jason looked and saw Robin__―__ Tim Drake, his successor walk along side him as he attempted to get to his mother._ "You would think someone with a second chance would have learned from the past and would be better prepared, but then again, you were never ready and now you are using the cowl as a way to mask that fact. While that works for most scum in town, you know it's not going to work when you really need it. It's why you're going to fail her, just like you failed Bruce and just like you failed yourself."

"Now, now, we don't have to be so harsh." _Alfred Pennyworth said, walking up to Jason and adjusting the collar on his yellow cape_. "We know you have the best intentions, just as Master Bruce did…"

"But you know what the way to hell is paved with." _Tim interrupted._

"Jason, SAVE me." _his mother screamed at the top of her lungs_.

_Jason willed himself forward and reached his mother. Jason fumbled and struggled with the rope and was only successful in getting more and more of his blood on it than untying it. The laughter began to reach an earsplitting level, causing Jason to close his eyes, fall to his knees and cup his ears. He opened his eyes and looked up and saw a yellow ellipse with a bat symbol in it. He took his bloody hands from his ears and the laughter died down to a background level. He picked himself up and looked up at his father, mentor, partner and predecessor._

"I warned you Jason. I begged you but you never listen. Why didn't I see you weren't ready for this? Why can't **you** see it now? There's only one way to fix this." _Bruce began to laugh in time with the laughter in the background and it got louder and louder._

"Jason, Why can't you SAVE ME." _a new voice said from the captive tied to the post. Jason looked and saw it wasn't his mother anymore, it was Stephanie. The laughter returned back to its earsplitting level and Jason looked back at Bruce but he wasn't there. He now stared at a chalk-white face, green hair, bloodshot beady eyes and ruby lips in an ever-present smile. He raised his arm, which held a crowbar in his gloved hand and brought it down swiftly…_

… Jason's eyes shot awake as he woke up from his dream. He found his breathing to be short and painful and sat up. The room began to spin and he checked his pulse, and found his heartbeat racing.

_Concentrate on your breathing…_ he thought to himself as he slowly breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. He thought he was going to faint for a moment but managed to compose himself and get his breathing and heart rate under control.

He wiped the sweat off of his brow and lay back down. He looked at the clock on the nightstand and it read six in the morning. _Almost two hours of sleep… at least it's better than what I've been getting these last few weeks_. Jason placed his hand on his forehead and then ran his fingers threw his black hair. _What am I going to do?_

* * *

Joker entered the living room in the apartment of Detective Arnold Flass from the bedroom. He was wearing a Hugh Hefner Style Smoking jacket over his purple suit and was puffing a Cuban cigar. Both were items that Detective Flass received bribes for his various off-the-clock activities. Joker was also carrying under his arm a huge manila folder that contained the 800 page file containing all the information that the GCPD had on Batman and Robin. He plopped down on a plush arm chair that was positioned in front of the TV and put his feet up on the new footstool, which began to smell like burning flesh, and began to flip through the pages.

"Dinner's ready puddin'." Harley yelled as she exited the kitchen with a roast that looked like a overgrown piece of charcoal. She was wearing a Kiss the Cook apron, but had used a sharpie to put an 'I' before the word Kiss and an 'ED' after. She also placed two 'L's' over the two S's. "Is that what I think it is?" Harley ran towards the Joker and jumped onto his lap, startling him. "What's it say?"

"Well," Joker began resisting the overpowering urge to put his cigar out on Harley's face. "Looks like we have a real genuine Bat-fake on our hands and I can't wait to get my hands on that new Robin. You know how much I love killing those Robin's and this new fake-Batman did such a good job in choosing the sweetest little Robin anyone could ever hope for."

"I love it when you get that twinkle in your eye, just like you had when we got Arnie with the joybuzzer." Harley said, playing with the Joker's green hair and kicking the smoldering and charred corpse of Arnold Flass, which the Joker had been using as a footstool.

"Well, you know what time it is then…" Joker said, licking his teeth. Harley reached over and puckered her lips and the Joker placed his hands on her ribs and threw her off of him. "It's time for one of my wacky schemes. Fake-Batman needs to be initiated into the game and we're going to get started by visiting an old friend." Joker chuckled.

"But boss," Harley said, standing up and rubbing her behind. "What about dinner? I've got a pie in the oven."

"No time bumpkin," Joker said walking out the door, puffing on the Cuban cigar. "But turn it up the oven all the way and throw in that bottle of lighter fluid we found."

* * *

Jason sat in the Batcave, facing the various displays of the Batcomputer. He was wearing his costume, minus the mask, preparing to go out on patrol hoping to find where the Joker would be striking next. Joker was controlling himself, only killing the Rodriguez family and Detective Flass so far, and keeping himself off the grid, but it would only be a matter of time before he would make his next move to draw Batman out.

Jason decided to look over the files Bruce had compiled on the Joker, hoping that something would help him find out what he would be up to, but that was a dead end. You could never predict what the Joker would do next. Jason took a quick look at the various news outlets to see if anything had come up. Word got out to the public that the Joker was loose and responsible for the Rodriguez and Flass murders, causing the usual public panic and statements from the GCPD for people to stay inside and report any suspicious activities. There was a call by some citizens for the city council to contact Wonder Woman to assist the GCPD and the usual banter from politicians and various TV personalities that Batman and Robin were to blame for the mess that Gotham City was in and they should be held responsible for the Joker's actions and arrested.

_You're stalling._ Jason thought as he turned them off and stared a monitor that was displaying an image of the Joker's face. This would be his first confrontation with the Joker since he left Jason for dead nine years ago in Qurac, after beating him with a crowbar. Jason could feel the anxiety building and his heart beat becoming more rapid. He closed his eyes, and managed to get himself under control.

He opened his eyes and turned his attention to the Batcave gym, where Stephanie, who was dressed in her Robin costume, without the cape and mask, was doing a routine on the uneven bars. Jason knew he needed some kind of backup, considering how he was dealing with the anxiety this eventual confrontation. He thought about Tim and Cassandra, but they were both in Bludhaven, which was about 60 miles away and Tim was retired. He considered reaching out to Selina, but they were not exactly on speaking terms.

He watched Stephanie spin around a couple of times on the high bar to gain momentum for her dismount. She let go and somersaulted into the air on a 45 degree angle and came down sticking the landing. Jason allowed himself to smile a little. He knew bringing her with him was a big risk, but she had really rededicated herself after the Red X incident. Besides Alfred, there wasn't anyone else in this world he trusted more than Stephanie.

Stephanie caught Jason looking at her. She smiled and made her way to the computer he was sitting at. "So are we gonna to get going?"

"Yeah," Jason said, letting out a big sigh, looking at the image of the Joker staring back at him.

"Don't worry Jason," Stephanie said, grabbing his hand and placing her other one on his shoulder. "We'll get through this… together as partners."

* * *

"Come on, hurry up, I need to get out of here." Gotham Mayor Armand Krol said as he buttoned his shirt.

"Relax Armand." his half-naked brunette intern said, sitting on his desk in the Mayor's office and smoking a cigarette. "He has no reason to come after you."

"He's crazy, he doesn't need a reason." Krol said as he gathered his belongings.

"Armand, so far, everything he's done seems to point to wanting to throw down with Batman."

"You don't know what he's capable of." Krol said he began to reminisce about how he was terrorized by the Joker two years ago during the Arkham Breakout.

"You know what?" the intern said as she jumped off the desk. She grabbed Krol and threw him on it and strattled him. "You need to relax." After she kissed the mayor, her eyes widened as she felt the barrel of a gun on the back of her head.The sound of the hammer being pulled back echoed in the room as Krol looked passed her and saw the face he was trying to avoid.

"I couldn't agree more." The Joker said, cackling as he pulled the trigger, covering the Mayor in blood and pieces of his mistress.

Krol pushed the dead body off of him and tried to run away but was kicked in the face by Harley Quinn, who was hiding behind the Joker.

"Where are my manners?" Joker said as he put his arm around the Mayor, who grabbed his bloody nose. "Krolly, Harl, Harl, Krolly" The Joker said as he pointed the smoking gun at each one as he introduced them.

"You know Krolly," The Joker began. "I can still call you Krolly right. I mean, we're still cool like that?" he stopped to laugh. "I was telling Harley about all of the fun we had during that little breakout a couple of years ago and she was kinda upset that she missed out on all the fun, so we came up with a fabulous idea to take a trip down memory lane with an old friend, that's you, make that murder rate reach an all-time high and have a couple of laughs." Joker threw his head back and began to laugh hysterically. Harley followed suit and Krol just trembled in terror. "

_**To be continued…**_


	2. Chapter 2

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**E8 Batman**

**Jason and Uncle Joker**

**Part 2**

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It was a little past one in the morning as Gaspar Taylor entered his small apartment in the East End of Gotham City. Gaspar was typical muscle for hire as well as adept at finding out useful information that kept him useful to the Gotham underworld for almost ten years. His most notable claim to underworld fame was not only surviving a stint in a gang run by the Joker, but being someone who served in several. Most people in the circles he ran in valued that, since you would've had to be either extremely important or extremely lucky if you survived working for that lunatic.

He was little drunk after a night of losing money in poker and stumbled into the dark living space as he opened the door. The apartment was illuminated only by the moonlight that came from the only window in the place, which was across from the door. He took his tan sports coat off and began to loosen his black tie as he shut the door without looking back. If he had, he would have seen two ominous white eyes staring at him from the darkness.

Before he could reach the lamp on the table in the middle of the room, he felt two hands grab the back of his shirt and thrust him into the wall to his left; crashing into a large flat panel TV he had just bought. He fell to the ground, but the hands did not let go, and they picked him up and ran him across the room and threw him into that wall, crashing into a large picture frame, which contained a picture of a boat. It wasn't something that Gaspar bought or brought with him, it came with the place.

Gaspar felt two hands grab his lapels and pick him up. He was now face to face with his assailant and with the help of the moonlight, could see he was wearing a black helmet that covered his entire face with two pointed objects extending from the top on the sides of it. While he couldn't see it, he was sure that on this person's chest, was a black bat emblem.

"Where's the Joker?" Batman screamed at him.

"Are you fing crazy?" Gaspar said, with spittle flying from his mouth. "I'm not going to run with that psycho again and I don't know where he is. I don't wanna die…"

Batman picked him up and threw him over his shoulder into the table in the middle of the room, shattering it in the process. "I'm not going to ask again." He threatened again as he grabbed Gaspar's lapels and picked him up.

"I told you I don't know anything." Gaspar pleaded. Batman spun around, as if he were throwing a discus, gaining enough force to throw Gaspar out of the 8 story window. Gaspar screamed as he waved his arms and legs on the way down. He closed his eyes and right before he was about to hit the sidewalk, he felt a hand grab his arm and start to swing upward. He looked up to see a green gloved hand grabbing his own. It was attached to a blonde girl in a green domino mask, wearing a red tunic with green sleeves and a black cape with a yellow lining.

"You know, if you wanted to get down here, the stairs would've been safer." Robin said. She reached his window and threw him in and entered herself.

Gaspar rolled on the floor of his apartment and grabbed his shoulder, fearing it was dislocated. He also felt another hand grabbing it and squeezing it, causing him to scream in pain.

"I'm pretty sure that I don't have any more associates out there that will catch you the next time I throw you out that window." Batman said.

"And I'm out of grapples." Robin chimed in.

"I told you I don't know where he is." Gaspar screamed. "All I heard is that he's looking to start a crew for something and he was specifically looking for Rocco Spatafore."

"And Rocco is where?" Batman growled as he squeezed tighter on Gaspar's shoulder.

"On Monday's he likes to go to the Iceberg and gawk at their new lounge singer." Gaspar screamed as he closed his eyes in pain. He felt his shoulder pop back into place and when he opened his eyes; he saw that Batman and Robin had already left before passing out.

**Iceberg Lounge**

_I think I'm in love_. Rocco Spatafore thought to himself as he stirred his Bacardi and Coke, staring at the buxom blonde singer out in the open-air area of the popular Gotham nightspot that was owned and operated by the Penguin. The stage was set up in front of the pool, which had a giant replica iceberg floating in it. The blonde, wore a strapless red dress with a slit that went up to her hip and white gloves that went past her elbows. She caressed the microphone like a lover, as the piano player behind her began to play the melody to the first song of the set. Ever since the Lounge hired this new singer three weeks ago, Rocco was always there, every Monday in time for the first set.

Rocco was very well known around these parts not just for spending every Monday night at the Iceberg. He was one of the most frequently hired muscle men in Gotham, due to his ability to take and follow orders to the letter. He was also good at keeping his mouth shut, which most underworld types valued if something were to occur during a job and they found themselves spending time over at Gotham Central.

While Rocco was thinking about ways he could possibly approach the singer, he felt fingernails trail along his back from right to left. He looked to his left and saw a petite blonde woman, wearing a small white dress that clung to every curve of her body and showed off her long, toned legs. Rocco looked her over, starting with her feet, seeing that she wore heels that matched the dress, up those long legs, up past her hips, taking in and making mental notes of her possible measurements and finally stopping at her face. He had these child-like blue eyes that she batted at him and had a huge, toothy smile that didn't waver once as she looked at him. She gave him a wink before she opened the door to the indoor bar area, whipping her long golden hair as she walked in.

Rocco stared at the door and then at the singer contemplating what he would do next. He waited three minutes before he got up and followed the petite blonde into the bar area. The indoor portion of the Iceberg Lounge has light blue walls and a plush dark blue carpet, with a marble top bar that was elevated a step above the rest of the room. Tables were littered all over the floor for patrons to enjoy drinks and/or a meal that would've been served to them by a scantily clad waitress. The music from outside was being transmitted indoors, but there was an area in the corner by the door that was used for acts when the weather was inclement.

Rocco found his girl standing by the bar and made his way there through the patrons and waitresses. Behind the bar on the wall was a mirror that was covered with various bottles of liquor. Above the bar hung numerous glasses upside down and the bartenders were dressed in a white shirt, black vest and slacks with a bow tie.

"Vodka tonic…" The blonde ordered without moving that smile off her lips.

"Put it on my tab." Rocco chimed in as he took a seat on the stool next to the woman.

"Make it a Grey Goose and tonic then…"

"Yes ma'am" the bartender replied.

"I like a girl with good taste…" Rocco said as he turned his hefty frame towards the petite blonde. "So what's your name?"

"Now, why do you wanna go ruin everything with something like that?" The blonde said as she grabbed her drink and stirred it.

"Keeping things on a need to know basis, I like that too." Rocco said as he watched her take a sip of her drink, still keeping her smile. "Does that smile ever come off?"

"Are you gonna give it reason to?" she replied.

"I've never had a complaint yet."

"Well, let's hope you keep it that way." She said as she placed her drink down. She placed her fingernail at Rocco's throat and lightly traced a line to his chin, before walking away form the bar. Rocco followed her to the area where they kept private rooms, watching her strut her stuff as she led them to the very last room. She inserted a key and unlocked it, giving him a wink before entering the room. Rocco followed her in, but couldn't see a thing as it was pitch black as the door closed behind him.

"Maybe we should turn on a light?" Rocco suggested. He plugged his nose after he got a whiff of something that was a cross of waste products and vomit.

"Brilliant idea." A male voice said as the lights suddenly came on. Rocco looked straight a head and jumped back, hitting his back against the door and clutching his chest. He tried to get his breathing under control, which was not easy, knowing that those beady, bloodshot eyes and that smile were staring you down.

"Come on Roc, I know this was probably the last thing you expected," The Joker began. "I hope she didn't RAISE your hopes too much." He looked at the petite blonde and both began to laugh hysterically, the Joker almost falling out of his chair.

"You just startled me boss, that's all." Rocco said as he finally gained his composure, which was a relative term to the situation. Despite having worked for the Joker many times, Rocco never got used to starting at the clown face, smiling all the time, constantly showing those big yellow teeth.

"Oh, where are my manners…" Joker said as he managed to stop laughing. "Rocco, meet Harley Quinn…"

"Nice ta meetcha." Harley said.

"Ma'am." Rocco said, finally knowing the name of the petite blonde. Rocco surveyed the room and followed the rank smell to the far right corner and was startled to find a middle-aged man tied and bound to a chair with his mouth duct taped shut. The man began to move frantically, his eyes pleading for any assistance. "Is that the mayor?" Rocco asked pointing.

"What…him?" Joker asked looking where Rocco was pointing to. "Oh don't worry about him. He's just cranky because he hasn't had his juice yet." Joker chuckled before he screamed: "Harley."

"I'm on it puddin'…" Harley said as she went to the corner and grabbed a wooden club that was labeled 'JUICE' and clubbed the mayor in the head until he became unconscious getting a big laugh out of the Joker.

"Isn't she great Roc?" Joker said as still laughing at the Mayor. "Well… I'm sure your wondering why I'm here. Well, I'm getting the band back together. You, me, Punch and Judy, and of course Harley…"

"Uh… Boss, um… Punch and Judy kinda don't work together anymore, see they…"

"Well Rocco, I'm sure they'll get together for me. Their lives will depend on it after all..." Joker said, chuckling while putting his arm around Rocco. "Now this is the plan, I want you to get Punch and Judy and about six or seven others and meet me at the Laff Factory and give these to one of them." Joker paused to hand him two envelopes before he continued. "Tell that person to get to the top of Gotham Central and shine that big light they have in the sky to get a certain Bat-Fake's attention. He is going to give one of them to Bat-poop and the other to whatever Pig comes up from the sausage factory to arrest him."

"Boss, what if they don't have that light anymore, I mean, they haven't shined it in years." Rocco said as he looked at the envelopes. One had a picture of a bat on it and the other had a picture of a pig.

"Well, shooting random people on the street is something I would do." Harley chimed in.

"A woman after my own heart" Joker said giggling and clenching his fists. "Alright Harl, we need to go make preparations for our guests." Joker opened the door for Harley to walk out of and as she did, gave her a hard slap on the rear. She winced but still looked at the Joker with adulation. "Rocco, I expect you there with in an hour."

"An hour?" he asked.

"That's right Roc, half an hour." Joker said as he closed the door chuckling down the hall. Rocco took a deep breath and his nostrils filled were filled again with an awful smell. He looked to the corner and realized that the Joker and Harley forgot about the Mayor. Before he could say anything the door opened and in walked the Joker. "Whoops, forgot our mascot." The Joker said laughing as he grabbed the back to the chair and dragged the unconscious Mayor out the door.

**Gotham Central**

Police Commissioner Michael Atkins hunched over the desk in his office and rested his eyes. Since the public got wind of the Joker's reemergence and the subsequent kidnapping of Mayor Krol, the times Commissioner Atkins was able to rest were few and far between. In the few times he has been home, his wife has commented how stress has made it seem as if he has aged years in the past few weeks, with grey hairs popping up in his normally black hair and unshaved beard.

The door opened and a tall, strawberry-blonde woman in her early 40's entered the room. She looked at the resting Commissioner and thought twice before waking him up. Commissioner Atkins shot his head up and began to push up the knot of his black tie and smooth the wrinkles out of his white dress shirt. "Is everything alright Commissioner?" the woman asked.

"Everything's fine Lt. Essen, just trying to catch up on some shut eye." Commissioner Atkins said. He motioned her to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Have a seat. What do you have to tell me?"

"Nothing new… Joker hasn't made his move yet and we have no leads to where he might be hiding the Mayor." Lt. Sarah Essen began as she sat down. Lt. Essen was the head of the Major Crimes Unit of the GCPD. The MCU dealt exclusively with matters that involved Metahumans or people taking on a costumed identity, making Lt. Essen somewhat an expert in the field. "We heard some rumblings that he's planning on getting a crew together, so we decided to pay visits to known associates of his that are still living. We're about to head to the Iceberg and talk to Rocco Spatafore. Punch and Judy are nowhere to be found and Gaspar Taylor was busy being rushed to a hospital after it appeared he was thrown around his apartment pretty good."

"Great," Atkins said, getting out of his chair and looking out of the window in the back of his office. "We have to deal with HIM." Atkins under an extreme amount of pressure to deal with the Joker in a quick manner and now if word that Batman (whose existence the GCPD still denied) was getting involved, it would only increase the calls for his head that he has been hearing in the media and throughout Central.

Atkins looked at Lt. Essen and wondered how she could stay so cool under the pressure. For a woman in her early forties she still looked incredibly attractive and always looked sharp at work, wearing a white blouse with a green skirt which matched her heels and blazer. Maybe it was because she has lived in Gotham for so long and was used to the craziness. "Sarah, do you ever wonder why we do this? Why we subject our families to this craziness? When I came here from Gateway City, I knew it was going to be hard, but nothing really prepares you for this place."

Sarah didn't answer him immediately. She though about how grateful she was that her daughter Barbara was Bludhaven and while it wasn't Disney Land, it was better than being in Gotham at the moment. "I'll be honest; I only stayed in Gotham because of Barbara's father. He believed that the Good that was here was worth saving." Sarah got up from the chair and straightened out her outfit. "After I gave birth to Barbara, I wanted to move away, but I couldn't. I guess his beliefs rubbed off on me. You have to believe Gotham City, if you don't you shouldn't be here."

"I guess your right." Atkins said as he turned from the window and sat back down at his desk. "Head over to the Iceberg and see if you can get something from him. I have to meet with the Deputy Mayor to tell him about our progress. I'm transferring Allen and Montoya over to MCU from homicide. Take them with you."

"We'll find him Commissioner." Lt. Essen said as she walked to the door. She stopped and turned around: "What if we run across Batman and Robin?"

"Vigilantism is illegal in Gotham City Lieutenant." the Commissioner said coldly. He never made an attempt to hide his distain for Gotham's fabled Dark Knight and his friends. The GCPD's reputation was bad enough, but it, more than any other department in the United States, had the perception of being reliant on vigilantes. "Arrest them."

"Okay." Lt. Essen said as she walked out the door, almost bumping into a nervous looking man holding two envelopes.

**Iceberg Lounge**

"I told you I don't know anything." Oswald Cobblepot, who was more well known as the Penguin screamed waving his hands and right leg from atop the giant iceberg that was in the pool of the open-air section of his club. He looked up and saw most of his patrons leaving the area as Robin tied up the beaten security personnel that had convened on Batman and herself once they had entered the club. He then looked down at his feet to see that his was being held upside down by Batman, who had a vise-like grip on his left ankle, but his arm was slowly lowering inch by inch.

"My arm is starting to get tired." Batman said ominously.

"You rabble-rouser, I told you I haven't willfully associated with any known delinquents or participated in any unruly activities since our run in over a year ago. I am just the owner and proprietor of this establishment. Now, put me down." The Penguin screamed.

"Alright Penguin," Batman said. "But I may have to be inclined to alert the police about certain merchandise in the basement of this facility that was recently hijacked from the Tri-Corner yards…"

"Damn you," The Penguin muttered. "Don't I do enough for you, give you enough information…"

"You're going to have to give me more if you want to keep this lucrative business going." Batman interrupted.

"Don't you understand? He'll kill me..."

"What do you think this fall will do to you?" Batman lowered his arm more.

"Alright, some blonde was in here, looking to rent one of our private rooms. She told the concierge she was charging it and handed her an envelope with a Joker Playing card in it laced with that venom of his. Needless to say, you know what happened to her next. I gave her the room and told her not to be any trouble to any of the guests. She came out here later and enticed some burley fellow to follow her in."

"Rocco Spatafore?"

"Yes, always comes in here to gawk at the new singer… ten minutes later, the room was empty and one of my security personnel was dead, sporting one of those ghastly grins, and that's all I know, now put me down."

"Batman, look." Robin shouted as she pointed to the sky. Batman looked up and saw a sight he hadn't seen in years.

"I thought they took that thing out of Central." The Penguin commented, before he was dropped into the pool below. Penguin swam to the edge and began to pull himself out, noticing that Batman and Robin were already gone.

"Mr. Cobblepot, are you okay?" A scantly-clad waitress asked, emerging from under a table to help her employer.

"Okay," The Penguin shouted in excitement. "Do you realize every time he makes one of his 'appearances', business the next day goes up ten fold?"

**Gotham Central**

"Man, the Commish looks like he's about to lose it." Renee Montoya said as she put on a grey sports coat over her tucked in blouse as she exited Gotham Central with Lt. Essen and her partner, Detective Crispus Allen.

"Which is why we have to…" Lt. Essen began.

"Look up." Allen interrupted as he pointed to the bright light coming from the roof of Gotham Central which displayed an iconic image across the night sky that hasn't been seen in years.

"¡Madre de Dios!" Renee yelled in her native tongue.

"There's more." The African-American detective continued as he pointed at two silhouettes moving towards the roof.

"Let's get up there." Sarah commanded as she ran back into Central.

David Santini was astonished that he encountered such little resistance from the GCPD as he made his way up to the roof and was even more astonished to find that the fabled Bat-Signal was still there. Everyone in town heard that it was taken out after the Arkham Breakout. He pulled the dusty white sheet, covering his brand new black Italian suit in the process of and flipped the switch and waited. He was initially hesitant about doing this when Rocco approached him, but when Rocco told him who it was for, his fear of the Joker had overridden any apprehension that he might have had. He dusted himself off and looked over the edge for any sign of Batman, and when he found none, he turned his attention to the door he used to gain entrance to the roof. He wondered who would get to him first, Batman or the GCPD. He then wondered if the GCPD showed up, how he was going to get this envelope to Batman, and then what was the Joker going to do to him if he didn't.

"What are you doing here?" a low-growling voice yelled, starting David as he fell to the floor when he turned and looked into the eyes of Batman, as Robin stood silently behind him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was told to give you this." David stammered, holding out an envelope with a bat drawn on it. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't want to die." Batman opened the envelope and looked at its contents, two tickets to the Laff Factory, a closed comedy club in the Otisburg section of Gotham.

"Figures..." Robin commented after looking at the tickets. David was about to relax when the entrance to the roof was kicked in.

"GCPD Freeze." Lt. Essen said as she ran on the roof with Dectectives Montoya and Allen as well as half a dozen uniformed officers. She pointed her gun at David. "Where's Batman?"

"He's…" David turned around and saw that Batman and Robin were gone.

"What are you doing here?" Renee interrogated him.

"I'm here to give you guys this. Please don't hurt me; I didn't want him to kill me." David pleaded as he handed them a similar envelope he handed to Batman.

**Laff Factory**

"Everything's ready ta go Mista J." Harley Quinn said as she danced towards the object of her affection as he stood silent in front of an array of surveillance monitors. The place was completely black and the only light came from the monitors and the moon which shone through the windows. She had felt more comfortable since changing back into her red and black harlequin outfit and face paint than she did wearing that skimpy white dress she wore at the Iceberg. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Lions… Tigers… Bears…" Joker mumbled between clicks as he pushed down the lever of a Magic Picture Viewer, showing him images of wildlife. No longer amused with the toy, the Joker threw it over his shoulder.

"Puddin', ever…" Harley began as the Joker placed his index finger on her lips.

"Wait for it…" Joker said as they stood silent before hearing a crashing sound, signaling the end of the Magic Picture Viewer. The Laff Factory was like many buildings on the North Island of Gotham, dilapidated and neglected. They typically had the smell of excrement and rotting wood and flesh due to many dead animals and people being hidden between the walls and floor boards. These buildings also had the tendency to become hideouts for various villains, and the Joker was no exception, in fact, he actually preferred places like this. He had setup numerous hideouts similar to this one throughout the North Island, in Otisburg, Brunley, Newtown, the Bowery and the East End. Each one was equipped to do extensive surveillance of the surrounding area, hold a cache of his various gag weaponry and set up with various booby traps that would maim unwanted guests and sometimes even his henchmen. Why the Joker had so many of these hideouts come from his tendency to forget about them or where they are, leaving their next tenant to deal with unfortunate consequences.

Joker took his finger off of Harley's ever-smiling lips and began to watch the monitors and his eyes lit up as he saw a very special black vehicle approaching two blocks away. "Harley, look..." The Joker exclaimed as he grabbed her neck and slammed her face into the monitor he was looking at.

"Uhh… I can't breathe boss." Harley said, scarcely audible as the Joker squeezed her throat tighter.

"That's not important Harley. HE'S here." The Joker said as he let go of her throat and clasped his hands together. "It's almost time for the initiation to begin." Joker grabbed a backpack and handed it to Harley along with a portable monitor. "You know what you have to do."

"I sure do puddin'" Harley said as she massaged her throat.

"Stay here and don't leave the car." Batman said to his partner as he parked the car in an alley a few blocks from the Laff Factory. "You are strictly backup on this and are not to do anything unless I explicitly tell you too."

"Okay Batman," Robin said, disappointed that it seemed like she wouldn't be seeing action. "Don't you think it would be better if both of…"

"Robin… Stephanie, I need you to be here to extract me… if I don't make it."

Robin was taken back a bit Batman's mention of his mortality. "Okay, I'll be here for you, just don't forget that."

"Be prepared, Joker probably has this whole area under surveillance so he may know we're here."

"Gotcha." Batman opened his door and exited the Batmobile. "Batman," Robin began. "We're gonna get him." She gave him a smile as he closed the door and shot a grapple towards the roof of the building.

"Awww Krolly, why so glum?" Joker asked his captive. The Mayor was still bound to the same chair as he was in the Iceberg Lounge, suffering through numerous beatings, and small electrocutions from joy buzzers from both Joker and Harley as they amuzed themselves and tried to pass the time between then and now. He was covered in dried blood as well as his own filth, not being able to use the bathroom in sometime. "You should be thanking me for including you in on this." Joker said as he leaned on him. "If this new model is anything like the old, then he should be here any minute. He might even…" The Joker was interrupted as a batarang flew past his head and embedded itself in a wooden plank on the wall."…be here now." Joker finished his sentence as he turned around. He saw Batman step into the moonlight and the grin on his face got wider.

_**To Be Continued.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**E8: Batman**_

_**Jason and Uncle Joker**_

_**Part 3 **_

**

* * *

**

**Laff Factory**

"I'm so glad you made it." The Joker exclaimed with delight as he clasped his hands together standing in front of the bound and gagged Mayor of Gotham.

Batman stood silent and did not move. The air filters in his cowl could not sift out the stench of waste and rotting wood. The Joker seemed to wait for some kind of response from the Dark Knight and began to look annoyed when none was offered. "Well, I see that you have inherited daddy's social skills." The Joker snickered. "It brings a tear to this old timer's eye that with all of these new kids showing up and playing in someone else's pajamas that at least one of them seems to have respect for the history of the costume they wear."

Jason tried to keep himself under control and ready for whatever the Joker tried. He tried not to let that smiling, chalk-white face bring back the memories of that day in Qurac. _Don't make it about you and him._ Jason thought to himself. _Make it about Mayor Kroll and getting him out of here alive_. It was easier said than done as Jason, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't keep the images of the beating he suffered out of his head.

The Joker continued talking: "As I hope you are aware, myself and the ol' Guano-man shared a unique bond that stemmed from more than stopping by at a couple of the gags I'd be pulling off and sharing a few laughs…"

_Seven years of my life gone._ Jason thought as he clenched his gloved fists.

"…And it's because of that special bond that I went through all of this trouble to get you here this evening…"

_I can still feel the pain._ Jason started to grind his teeth in response to the anger he was feeling.

"…I sincerely hope that whoever you are, whether your one of those sniveling little brats Batsy used to have running around that I hadn't gotten around to kill yet or someone totally new…"

_You cost me everything, my life, my legacy…_

"…That you truly realize that it's not just a bunch of fancy toys and a cool car that you're getting when you put on that costume…"

…_My family, my birthright…_

"…I mean, Stupid-Man screwed up a bunch of my plans back in the day, but did you think I was going to go out and risk my neck to kill that big monster that iced him? Do you see me in Metropolis gracing that new guy with my presence?

… _And my vengeance_. Jason screamed in his mind as his muscle got so tense, he was visibly shaking.

"…But that Juan Valdez on steroids…"

_You took away my right to avenge my mentor, my partner…_

"…Granted, he put your Uncle Joker in intensive care for almost two years…"

… _My father._ Jason began to emit a low growl.

"… But I guess I'd take being in a nice comfy hospital bed six stories up than being in a nice comfy casket six feet under." The Joker threw his head back and began to laugh hysterically as Batman charged the Joker letting out a primal yell. When he reached the Joker, he threw a couple of wild and uncontrolled punches and followed them up with a wild spin kick that the Joker easily dodged. Joker countered by taking a switchblade from the pocket of his purple sports coat and swung at Batman in a downward inside and out manner. Batman dodged them and when on the next downward stroke, Batman caught the Joker's wrist, grabbed the label of his jacket and brought the cowl of his helmet straight into Joker's face, breaking his nose and some of his teeth.

The Joker stumbled backward and fell down to his knees as he cupped his face with his hands. Blood seeped through his fingers and stained his white gloves red as Batman stepped into a fighting stance. The Joker positioned his fingers and snapped his nose back into place and slowly stood up. "I do you the favor of killing your predecessor's murder and this is how you thank me?" he screamed at the Dark Knight as blood ran from his nose and down his face and into his smiling mouth, giving his yellow teeth an additional tint of crimson. Any fun he was having earlier was now gone as it was replaced with a murderous rage that tensed his muscles to the point where he was visibly trembling and it seemed to make his eyes even beadier and more bloodshot as a growl escaped through his clenched teeth.

Joker slowly stood up, never taking his eyes off of Batman and wiped his blood off of his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He bent his head to the side as it let out a loud crack and popped his lapels at the same time. He pressed his ruby lips together, keeping that infamous smile and raised his hands, clapping them twice. From the darkness behind him, a group of eight men emerged, dressed in black with their faces painted in clown makeup. Each equipped with some kind of knife, club or a chain. Batman noticed some of the Joker's regular henchmen among them like Rocco Spatafore, Punch and Judy. The Joker backpedaled toward the Mayor as his henchmen surrounded Batman. The Joker threw his head back and began to laugh.

* * *

Lieutenant Sarah Essen took her binoculars and looked out of the a second story window of an abandoned building across the Laff Factory into the window of the room the Joker was spotted in. She took her radio, which he had clipped to the bulletproof vest she wore and placed it next to her ear, pushing aside her strawberry-blonde hair. "Snipers, are you in position?" 

_Yes maam. _The person on the other side of the radio said. _We see the Mayor; he's in no immediate danger, for lack of a better term._ Everyone in the GCPD knew that when the Joker was concerned, there was always immediate danger. _The target keeps moving, but if we need to, we can take the shot. _

"Do not to anything until I command. We need to assess the situation first. You never know what this lunatic has planned." Sarah said into the radio.

_Roger_.

"Sarah," Detective Montoya said as she entered the room, also wearing a bulletproof vest. "S.W.A.T. is in position, waiting for the go ahead."

Lieutenant, we have a visual on the Batman.

"Batman?" Sarah screamed.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Robin's War Journal**_

_Man, this is __**BORING**__, just waiting for Batman to call… I wonder if Supergirl or Wonder Woman is in the market for a teenage sidekick (j/k)…Jason has shared a lot of personal things with me but this was the first time I could SEE fear in him and if he's afraid… I shouldn't think about that, I should keep my mind sharp, or concentrated on this game of Tetris that I'm playing on my cell phone. I really can't blame Jason for being a little overprotective but I still can't get my mind off his display of fear. Jason is the strongest person I know to overcome the terrible thing that clown-faced lunatic did to him. If something like that happened to me, I don't think I would have that kind of strength to keep on fighting our fight…_

… Robin was distracted from her thoughts and her game by an image on the Batmobile's surveillance camera as she saw a woman dressed in a harlequin outfit approaching the vehicle. _What the hell…_ she thought as she saw the woman approach the driver's door and began to take some kind of device out of the pouch she had over slung over her hip. Robin exited out of the passenger door, careful not to alarm the saboteur.

Harley Quinn's blue eyes glistened in the moonlight and her smile never wavered as she pulled out an explosive device from the pouch that the Joker gave her earlier that evening. She bent down to attach it to the underside of the Batmobiile, when she felt a cold metal bar choke and pull her upward.

"Know, I could be wrong, but you don't look like one of the guys from Pimp My Ride." Robin commented as she pulled her bo staff back, applying more pressure to Harley's throat.

"Oh, the pretty bird thinks she's a comedian," Harley said as she tried to keep the bo staff from choking her with one hand and was rummaging through her pouch with the other. "Here's some advice, don't quit your day job." Harley pulled out a gun out of her pouch that had a cork stuffed into the barrel. He pointed it behind her and pulled the trigger, releasing the cork and hitting Robin in the head.

Robin stumbled backward and fell to one knee, holding her head in one hand. She came to her senses in time to see Harley attempt to come down on her with an axe kick, which she rolled away from. Robin swung her bo at Harley's ankles, causing her to jump up and out of the way, then jumped to her feet and planted a thrust kick into Harley's abdomen, which knocked the airborne villainess to the ground. Robin rolled her over with her staff and placed it on her throat and a foot on her chest.

"Now, Miss…"

"Harley Quinn, please ta meetcha."

"Okay Harley, what's your deal with the Joker?"

"You're a little young, so I don't expect you to understand the love I share with my puddin'."

"You're telling me you're in love with him?" Robin asked astonished.

"Yeah, plus he gives really good advice." Harley said as she noticed Robin rested the top end of her metal staff against the exposed part of her neck. "Like always have an ace up your sleeve." Harley grabbed the end of the staff that was on her throat and electricity coursed through it. Robin let out a high pitched shriek as she was electrocuted before Harley kicked her off of her.

Robin laid on her back, twitching as Harley straddled her, looking into her eyes and showing her the electric joy buzzer she had on the underside of her ring finger. She grabbed Robins red tunic and knocked her out with a punch across the face.

Lieutenant. The man on the other end of Sarah Essen's radio screamed. Smoke is filling the room, we can't see anything.

"S.W.A.T., place your gas masks on and enter the premises now." Sarah screamed into the radio.

All eight of the Joker's face-painted henchmen began to converge on Batman as he grabbed two handfuls of black pellets from his utility belt and tossed them in the air. The henchmen paused in mid-movement, unaware of the nature of the black spheres that were raining down on them. The pellets hit the floor and smoke began to fill the room.

The Joker stood back at the edge of the room with Mayor Kroll as the smoke filled most of the room, rendering him unable to see what was going on. All that he heard were punches, kicks, grunts and an occasional bone breaking that caused the Joker's eyes and grin to widen with glee. "He certainly takes after the old one, doesn't he?" The Joker giggled as he elbowed the Mayor who could only let out a small moan of desperation. The noises stopped as the smoke cleared, revealing that the only one standing was Batman. All eight of the Joker's henchmen lay unconscious in a pile behind him. "What did I tell you Krolly?" The Joker said as he picked up the Mayor and placed the switchblade to his throat. "Well Bat-fake, it's been fun, but you know what they say about comedy," Joker said as he hid behind the Mayor and peeked over his shoulder. "Always leave them wanting more."

The Joker began to laugh as he shanked the Mayor in the ribs and threw him at Batman. Batman caught him as the Joker ran away into the darkness, laughing all the way as the door to the second story room was kicked in and the members of the Gotham SWAT team filed in with their weapons drawn at the Dark Knight. Some of the SWAT team surrounded Batman and others began to handcuff the Joker's unconscious henchmen. One of them took the body of Mayor Kroll and pronounced him dead as the Joker's laughter began to fade, which Batman deduced was because of a secret passage that the Joker had escaped into. Batman focused his attention at the surveillance monitors in the corner of the room, which displayed a ten, and then a nine as one of the members of the SWAT team began to read him his rights. "Everyone, get out now," Batman screamed. "There's a bomb."

The SWAT leader looked to see what Batman was focused on and saw the countdown reach seven then six, and ordered his men to leave when it was a five then four. Batman sprinted for the window as it reached three then two. At one, Batman busted through the window as it counted down to its conclusion. The monitors displayed an image of a Joker playing card as an explosion tore through every floor of the abandoned comedy club.

* * *

Detective Crispus Allen was about to lead another group of officers into the abandoned Laff Factory before the explosion ripped through the building. Detective Allen looked in horror as the realization that no one had made it out came to his consciousness. Freeze, he heard another officer scream not far from where he was standing. He turned to see a group of officers running towards another who was pointing his firearm at the Batman. 

The force of the explosion altered Batman's jump and caused him to fall end over end head first into a parked car on the street. His cowl saved him from any major head trauma, but the front of it was damaged and obstructed some of his vision. He heard the sound of a hammer being pulled back on a gun and an officer telling him to freeze. As he heard the footsteps of the officer's back up as well as an oncoming helicopter, Batman turned toward the cop, snatched his gun from his hand and followed up with a hook punch that knocked him out. He sprinted toward an alley across the street through a hail of incoming gunfire, that his Kevlar suit protected him from.

He made it into the alley and jumped onto the fence that divided it and using it as a springboard, jumped onto a nearby fire escape and climbed to the roof. The helicopter finally arrived and shone a spotlight directly on him as an officer from the chopper demanded that he stay where he was and that he was under arrest. Batman did neither as he ran towards the end of the roof and grabbed his grappling gun. The helicopter opened fire as he shot the grapple to a nearby building and swung towards the other side of the street, but as he was coming up to the top of his arc, a bullet severed the line, causing Batman to fall to the street below head first.

* * *

Harley Quinn sat in a plush armchair in a very lavish penthouse apartment that was along the Sprang River on the upper-east side on the South Island. She sat still watching intently at the news coverage of their shenanigans and the subsequent police chase of Batman in Otisburg. 

"Honey, I'm home." The Joker shouted as he entered their abode.

"Puddin'" Harley screeched as she ran to and jumped on him, giving him a big bear hug. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Calm down woman, I'm not an amateur." Joker said as he threw her off of him and to the ground. The Joker fixed his suit and bow tie as he turned his attention to the television. "So… Bat-fake managed to avoid getting blown up. He has to have a connection to the old Batsy. He fights just like him, has the same lacking sense of humor and has that annoying habit of not dying when _**I**_ want him too." Harley got up and wrapped her arms around the Joker from behind. "Good think I really took the time to think of everything this time. Once he gives those pigs the slip, the bomb you put on the batmoblie will be the last thing he expects." Joker let out a small giggle.

"Oh, puddin', about that,…"

"What about it?" Joker growled as he turned and looked at Harley with the same murderous rage that he reserved for people who got him really angry.

"Well, puddin', you see… something came up and when I finished with that, I started to hear police sirens and I didn't…" Harley didn't get to finish her sentence as the Joker back handed her with a closed fist. Harley fell to the ground and the Joker got on top of her and began to strangle her.

"You miserable wretch, I should have never trusted some stupid groupie…" The Joker began to apply more pressure on Harley's throat as her eyes began to bulge out of her head.

"Boss…" Harley was barely audible as the life was being squeezed out of her by the man she loved. "…present."

"What are you babbling about?" The Joker yelled as he looked where Harley was pointing to, keeping the pressure on. She pointed to a lump near the wall, covered with a beige blanket. The Joker let go of his choke hold as curiosity got the better of him and walked toward the big lump as Harley began to cough and gasp for air. Joker reached out and pulled the blanket off and suddenly his urge to kill Harley and the fact that she didn't do her job vanished from his mind and was replaced with a joy that he only experienced once almost a decade ago.

He pranced his way back to Harley who was still coughing and trying to catch her breath. He grabbed her by the side of her head and picked her up. Harley trembled in fear at what might happen next, but as usual, the Joker did the unexpected. He kissed her. A long and passionate kiss and he stuck his tongue so far down her throat; she gagged and almost threw up.

"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" She humbly asked.

"Mad at you?" The Joker yelled. "Baby, I think I'm in love with you." Harley squealed in delight as the Joker grabbed her by the hand and yanked her towards the unconscious and tied up body of Robin. "Harley, where did you leave those explosives?"

"I got them in my bag on the couch."

"Go get them, and get the camera, we got one more errand to do before we really have some fun tonight?" Joker said as he began to laugh. "We are going to play the ultimate prank one can play on a Batman. One that insures that if he doesn't die from it, he'll wish he was dead." The Joker threw his head back and began to laugh hysterically as Harley did the same.

* * *

Batman crawled into an alley after falling, as he fought off waves of nausea. The cowl again saved him, but now it was damaged to the point that his vision was totally obstructed. He tried calling Robin, but the communication equipment in his ears had been damaged in the fall. Breathing became harder and harder as Batman realized that the air filters in his mask must not be letting air in. Seeing no other option, Batman pressed a small button near the back of his neck and a wedge-shaped portion of the cowl slid away allowing him to remove it. He took a deep breath before a light shone in his face and he heard the sound of guns being raised. 

"Batman, you're under arrest." Lieutenant Sarah Essen said.

_**To be continued…**_


	4. Chapter 4

**E8 Batman**

**Jason and Uncle Joker**

**part 4**

* * *

Batman, holding his cowl in one hand, used the other to shield his eyes from the shinging light as he was cornered by eight of Gotham's finest, including Lt. Sarah Essen and Detective Renee Montoya.

"Stand up…" Lt. Essen said, her hands shaking and voice quivering as she pointed her standard issue at the Dark Knight. "…slowly… and keep your hands where I can see them. Batman complied, holding his hands up where they could be seen.

"I always thought he was a robot or a monster." A male officer commented.

"Who wears a mask under a mask anyway?" Another officer commented, seeing that Batman was wearing a black domino mask under his cowl. It was something that he had done when he came back to Gotham two years ago as the Red Hood and has been doing it out of habit ever since.

"Drop the mask and put your hands behind your back." Lt. Essen commanded as the strawberry blonde officer reached behind her to grab a set of handcuffs.

Batman dropped the mask and it rolled towards Detective Montoya, who picked it up and said: "This thing is starting to get hot."

"Drop it." Essen screamed as she ran towards Montoya as the other officers scattered. She tackled the detective who let go of the mask, but it was too late to keep them from being caught in the explosion. The other officers ran to their aid and when the smoke cleared, Batman was gone.

* * *

Robin awoke to an intense headache and incredible pain. After a few moments, she realized that she was in a bedroom and that her hands and legs were tied together behind her and around a pole. She took a deep breath and the scent of decay entered her nostrils. She followed the smell and saw four corpses, two looking like business men and the other two looking like they worked as dancers, lying on the ground near a closet on the opposite side of the room. The current state of decay indicated that the bodies had been dead for weeks. Robin managed to get to her knees and struggled against her bonds, was still weak from being electrocuted by Harley Quinn earlier that evening. She slumped down to the ground when she heard the door to the room open.

"See Harley, booby-trapping the Batmobile wasn't so hard was it?" Joker said, giggling as he followed his companion into the room. "And if Bat-boy manages to finagle his way out of that, the little family portrait we left for him will drive him nuts." Joker doubled over laughing.

"Look puddin'" Harley commented. "Our guest is finally awake."

"How wonderful," The Joker exclaimed as he made his way toward the bound Robin, who tried to increase the distance between her and the chalk-faced maniac as much as her bonds could allow, but didn't prevent the Joker from grabbing her cheeks and squeezing them. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm your Uncle Joker, I'm sure your boss has told you about me and the special bond we have?" Robin stood silent as the Joker squeezed and twisted her cheeks with painful force. It took all of her willpower to keep from making any kind of noise.

"I guess she's not the talkative type boss." Harley chimed in as she took a seat on the bed.

"Oh don't worry; Robin's are always the talkative type." Joker said giving Robin's cheeks one last squeeze. "You just need to prod them a little with a crowbar, that's all."

Robin watched as the Joker walked over to the closet, stepped over the dead bodies, open it, and rummage inside for a couple of seconds. "Now, I don't know if you're up on your history," The Joker chuckled and his grin grew wider as he pulled a crowbar out. "But, just incase, let Professor Joker give you a refresher course." Joker cackled as he waved the crowbar in front of Robin's face as her eyes grew wide with terror.

"Is that the same one you used on the first brat Mista J?" Harley asked, her smile also growing across her painted white face.

"I don't know…" The Joker said as he looked at the crowbar, furrowed his brow and scratched his head in confusion. He looked at Robin with his beady, bloodshot eyes and the look of confusion fell off of his face. "Well, I could never tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, so I'm sure this one will hurt just as much as the old one I used to off that short-pants wearing twerp." Joker dropped the crowbar as both he and Harley began to keel over and laugh, but stopped when they heard another voice joining them in laughter. It was Robin's.

Joker knelt got right up to Robin's face and Harley leaned in closer from her seat on the bed. Robin could feel his hot breath on her skin and it took everything she had to keep from throwing up because of its rotten smell. "Well, well… things are getting interesting…" Joker began. "What do you find so amusing about your situation, if I may ask?"

"Oh nothing," Robin said, getting right back into the Joker's face as much as she could. "It's just that you plan to do to me what you did to 'supposedly' kill off the first Robin… it just… sounds so… unoriginal…"

"See… you don't understand comedy," The Joker said as he grabbed a handful Robin's blonde hair and yanked it back, causing Robin to grimace a little as he licked the side of her face. "You don't know the importance of closing out the show. Why change something that's guaranteed to bring the house down?" The Joker began to giggle as he released Robin's hair and turned his attention away from her.

"Yeah, nothing shows your comedic genius better than closing the show by using a joke that has no punch line." Robin said as she began to laugh hysterically mocking the Joker's laugh.

The Joker let out a low growl before he turned around and punched Robin in the jaw. "You're not funny."

"And you won't be either," Robin said, with blood running down her chin. "When Batman shows up and proves your nothing but a hack." Robin spat at the Joker, hitting him square in the face.

Joker wiped the crimson-stained spit from his face with the sleeve of his purple sports coat and glared at Robin, not moving an inch as he clenched his fist, tensed his muscles and grinded his teeth as he let out a growl that got louder and louder. Robin returned the stare not wavering an inch as Harley sat up, pressing her fingers to her lip in shock looking back and forth between the two to see who would flinch first in their staring contest.

Joker grabbed the hair of the Girl Wonder pulled on it to bring her ear to his lips. He whispered in her ear: "I'm going to really enjoy killing you." He threw Robin to the ground and picked up the crowbar. "Harley, let's go, we have some more things to prepare before the finale."

Robin felt a pinch on her arm. She saw Harley pull a syringe from her arm and throw it across the room. She began to feel drowsy as she watched Harley follow the Joker out of the room. Once they were gone, Robin began to tremble, letting the fear and anxiety that she had been feeling and holding in check overwhelm her and began to cry. _Jason,_ she thought before she passed out, _please save me…_

* * *

Batman pushed up on the manhole after he was sure no one was around to spot him. He climbed up and sprinted to the alley where he had parked the Batmobile and where Robin was supposed to be waiting for him. He opened the door to the car and was surprised to see that an envelope was in the passenger seat with Robin nowhere to be found.

A sense of dread washed over Batman as he picked up the envelope. A beeping sound came from underneath the passenger side and it began to go faster and faster. Batman cursed himself for being stupid and sprinted away from the car and took shelter behind a dumpster as a bomb exploded.

Batman peeked around the dumpster to saw the Batmobile ablaze. He cursed at himself again before turning his attention to the contents of the envelope. It was a black and white photograph. On the left side was Harley Quinn, wearing a party hat and waving a pair of noise makers. On the right side was the Joker, facing the center and holding a gun that contained a BANG! Flag in its barrel. In the center was an unconscious Robin, bound to a pole and the point of the flag was at her throat.

Batman fell back against the wall of the building behind him and slid down, grabbing a handful of black hair and squeezing a hard as he could. _I can't believe I'm so stupid…that I got her into this._ Batman crumpled the picture in his hand, turned to the dumpster and began to punch it, over and over again, placing a sizable dent in the trash receptacle. Batman rested his forehead on the dumpster and continued to beat himself up over placing Robin a situation where she was now at the Joker's mercy.

Batman smoothed out the picture and looked at it again. He noticed behind Joker, Harley and Robin was a large window that showed a portion of the Gotham skyline that he recognized as the Burnley section of the North Island. The height of the view indicated that they were on or close to the top floor of the building. From this angle the Schwartz Bypass and the island that housed Arkham Asylum were visible. _A high rise… a penthouse… with that angle on the view, there's only one place on the Sprang River with it and that's on __Moldof__ Ave…_Batman shot a grapple to the nearest building and swung towards Moldof Avenue, hoping that he wouldn't get there late like Bruce.

* * *

Sixty miles to the north of Gotham City, in a dorm room at Bludhaven University, Barbara Essen sat in front of her computer console, wearing a BU t-shirt and matching sweat pants as she pulled an all-nighter. She had just finished writing code for a program that was due for her computer science class in the morning and had started to run the compiler to check for any syntax errors. She adjusted her glasses and pulled her long auburn hair into a ponytail as she turned on the TV to see what late night reruns were on, but found that most of the channels had interrupted their regular programming to bring a special new broadcast.

"Tonight, terror reigns in the Otisburg section of Gotham City tonight as it is estimated that over twenty people, including Gotham Mayor Armand Krol and twelve police officers were killed in an explosion that authorities believe was orchestrated by the Joker. Most of the officers were believed to be members of Gotham's elite Major Crimes Unit" The Broadcaster said.

"Major Crimes Unit… Mom…" Barbara gasped as she placed her hand to her lips opened her green eyes wide.

The broadcaster continued as Barbara grabbed the remote to the TV and raised the volume: "Reports indicate that the Batman was also spotted on the premises and responsible for a minor explosion that resulted in more injured police officers. The GCPD has no official comment at the moment. This is the largest mass murder since the last time the Joker was in Gotham and he gassed an entire Kindergarten class…"

Barbara's attention was diverted from the broadcast by her cell phone ringing. She slowly reached for it, pressed the send button and placed it next to her ear. Fifteen seconds into the call, she was out the door and on her way to Gotham City.

* * *

Robin could hear a lot of commotion and arguing coming from the other room as she regained consciousness. She rolled her head from side to side as she regained her senses and remembered her situation. She tried to move around to loosen her bonds, but quickly gave up as she still had too much tranquilizer in her system to mount any escape. She rested her head on her right shoulder as a tear escaped from the edge of her green domino mask. She softly whispered herself: "Jason, please save me…"

Robin opened her eyes and as if on cue, the window opened and in entered a dark figure that crept over to where she was in a cautious manner. He walked behind her and began to untie her as she smiled from ear to ear. "I knew you'd come save me. What happened to your mask?"

"Long story…" Batman said as he loosened the knot. "Are you okay?"

"So far… Look out." Robin screamed as she saw Harley Quinn run into the room with an oversized mallet. Batman snapped a kick upward that connected with the bridge of Harley's nose, breaking it, and followed it up with a spin kick to the side of her head, turning her around and knocking her out.

"Now, now… you gotta learn to play nice…" Joker said as Batman turned to the direction of his voice. Joker stood in the doorway to the room, methodically patting his palm with the crowbar he used to threaten Robin earlier. "I have to say, I like the mask... I guess the sidekick look is in." Joker giggled as he commented on the black domino mask Batman was wearing instead of his usual face-covering cowl.

A sensation of déjà vu washed over the Joker before he continued: "As I said when we first met, I was hoping that you had realized that it's more than a costume, more than some silly bat-symbol and some gadgets and that mask shows me that you very well know what I'm talking about. Stupid-Man, both new and old, Wonder Babe, any of these new kids that are playing dress up with all of their god-like powers… they all stay away from good ol' Gotham. Why is it that? Why is it that of all of the superheroes, the only one who's got the grapefruits to take it on is the one with no powers?"

Batman stood silent and at attention, keeping his focus on the Joker. Robin began to continue to loosen her bonds as the Joker began to talk again. "See, of all the heroes to emulate, look up to or take the mantle of, no one, except you, wants to take up Batman's silly quest and legacy, because they know, whether they realize it or not, that it's not just the cool costume, gadgets, or a bad ass car they get when they put on that cape. YOU accept it, but not they nope, nope, nope. See, they stay away because they realize what they'd ultimately get when they put on that symbol and come to Gotham…" The Joker paused to giggle, widening his grin even more, staring into the eyes of his new obsession as he pointed the crowbar to the black bat emblem on the chest of the bat-suit as he said his next three words slowly and with a slight growl. "…and that's ME."

The Joker cackled hysterically as he ran forward and lunged at Batman with the crowbar. Batman dodged it with a side step and connected with a hook punch to Joker's chin, followed by an uppercut that send him tumbling backwards and through the doorway and into the living quarters.

Behind them, Harley Quinn came to and stumbled getting to her feet. She grabbed the oversized mallet and started to follow Batman and the Joker out of the room, when she felt a finger tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and was met with an axe kick from the foot of Robin.

The force from the kick knocked Harley down, but not out. She looked up to see Robin standing over her. "I'm going to love kicking your ass." Robin said while she grabbed Harely by the lapels of her black and red harlequin suit and threw her across the room.

"Hey, come on R, can't ya take a little joke?" Harley asked and giggled as she stumbled to her feet as Robin leapt in the air towards Harley, extending her leg for a flying kick.

* * *

The Joker giggled as he got to his feet, and ran to the far side of the room where he and Harley had set up a large bomb with a visual display that was in the shape of his smiling face. He pressed a tooth and activated it, with the eyes showing a countdown of 5 minutes as Batman grabbed him from behind pushed him away from the bomb. Before the Joker could mount a counter-offensive, Batman grabbed his wrist and straightened the arm that held the crowbar. He turned it so the elbow was facing outward and struck it with a palm strike, breaking the joint, causing him to drop the crowbar. Batman placed a knife-edge chop to his throat and kick to the chest, knocking down the Clown Prince of Crime.

Batman glided over towards the Joker as he struggled to get up. He shot his arms from under his cape and grabbed the Joker by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against the wall. "You were right Joker, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I put this suit on and I've been waiting for this moment for almost ten years, and now I'm going to do to you what should have been done years ago."

He kneed the Joker in the stomach and threw him over his shoulder onto the ground. Batman knelt down, placing his knee on the Joker's broken arm, which caused him to howl in pain. "And let me tell you right from the start," Batman said as he began to pummel the Joker. "This is going to hurt you a lot more than it does me."

Blood began to fly from Batman's fists as he continued pound the Joker's bruised and swollen face. Batman thought about the brutalization he suffered from him when he was Robin and the pain, both physically and mentally that he felt every day because of it He remembered the feelings of abandonment and despair when he found out that a new Robin had replaced him, not only as Batman's partner, but as Bruce's son. The struggles to survive as he traveled the world came into his mind, reminiscing how he had to revert to the same tactics that he had to use to survive in Crime Alley. Last, he thought about the depression that he felt, even to this day about how he never could measure up, how he continued to fail over and over again. He failed as Robin and he failed as the Red Hood, but he wasn't going to fail as Batman. He was going to do what should have been done years ago. He let all of his emotions overwhelm him becoming oblivious to everything. As he continued to beat the Joker, Batman clenched his teeth as his lips parted and began to form a smile.

Joker frantically reached above his head to find something to fend off Batman with, leaving himself defenseless until his fingers felt cold steel. He grabbed the crowbar and swung as hard as he could and managed to hit Batman in the chest as he reared back for another punch.

Batman crawled into a corner, clutching his chest in a fetal position. The pain burned in his chest. The pain brought back memories of Qurac and began to hear the laughter that has haunted him in his dreams as his mind replayed his brutalization in his head.

The Joker got up laughing, with one arm gripping the crowbar tight and the other dangling lifelessly as he walked toward the Dark Knight. To Batman, to Jason Todd, it was Qurac all over again. Standing over him The Joker chuckled: "So you say you know what you got into and that you've been waiting for this for a while, eh? Well, you wear the bat, with the mask of the brat; death was good enough for them so let's see how you deal with that."

The ear splitting laughter was no longer coming from Jason's head as the Joker cackled and raised the crowbar high above his head, preparing to strike Batman, who cowered and held his arms up in a defensive position. Batman waited for the strike to come down…

…but it didn't.

The laughing stopped and something that hasn't happened since that fateful day at the Acme Chemical Plant occurred at that very moment.The smile was wiped from the Joker's face.Just like it had for Jason Todd, the current situation made the Joker think about Qurac and what he considered the most defining moment of his life outside of the accident that turned him into the monster he was. When he saw this Batman, wearing a black domino mask cowering and putting his hands up in defense instead of attempting to disarm him or take him out in some way, a stray thought entered his mind as he felt a sense of irony.

_The Boy Blunder did the exact same thing when I taught him that lesson…_

The Joker's fractured mind began to connect the dots behind the sensations of déjà vu he kept feeling throughout the whole experience with this new Batman, the scene he was looking at now, and the taunting the female Robin gave him earlier in the evening. He could hear her words echoing in his head and that's when he realized what she meant about his ultimate joke not having a punch line and a look of horror crept into his eyes as he whispered to himself: "He didn't die…"

Batman stood; paralyzed by his fear as he watched the Joker just stand still, with the crowbar still raised above his head muttering "He didn't die." to himself over and over again.

"Get away from him." Robin screamed as she ran towards the Joker from the bedroom where she had taken care of Harley Quinn. She leapt and connected with a side kick to his back, causing him to stumble away from Batman and towards the wall-length window that gave the murdered occupants of this apartment a view of Gotham's north island.

The Joker spun around and saw Robin getting into a fighting position. He saw the stylized R on her red tunic and became enraged as he lunged toward Robin, raising the crowbar up for a downward strike. Robin easily dodged the telegraphed maneuver, but before she could offer a counterattack, Batman sprinted towards the Joker, tackling him and pinning him to the ground. Batman pinned the Joker to the ground and yanked the crowbar from his hand.

"You didn't die." Joker screamed before Batman punched him in the face.

Batman grabbed Joker's lapels, punched him in the face and pulled him up close to his face. "You're fing right I didn't die," Batman screamed as spittle flew onto the Joker's face. "And I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me." He reached into his cape and pulled out a foot long blade from a sheath on his utility belt. The blade was made of an unbreakable steel alloy and modeled after a wavy Asian knife called a Kris and was Jason's preferred weapon as the Red Hood. When he became Batman, much like the domino mask, he carried it with him by force of habit, but never used it until now. He raised his arm, ready to plunge the knife deep into the Joker's black heart, but something held his arm back and prevented him from doing so.

"No Batman." Robin screamed as she wrapped her arms around Batman's arm. It took all of Robin's strength to keep Batman from embedding the dagger into the Joker.

Batman noticed the explosive device along the wall of the apartment, with its counter at ten and counting downward. He got to his feet, grabbed Robin, slung her over his shoulders and ran towards the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony. Batman grabbed a small black sphere from his belt and threw it at the doors, which blew them off of their hinges. Batman leapt through the new opening as the Joker began to laugh hysterically behind them. They got to the edge of the balcony and jumped forward as the entire floor of the sky rise exploded as Batman and Robin fell into the Sprang River.

* * *

**Gotham Memorial Hospital**

"Another explosion rocks Gotham tonight, this time on the upper east side along the Sprang River on Maldoof Ave., as a high rise erupts in flames." A news reporter began. "There is evidence that this is connected to the deadly explosion in Brunley earlier that clamed the lives of over twenty people. As of right now, the Joker and his accomplice are still at large.

In a related note, Acting Mayor Marion Grange and Commissioner Michael Akins have announced that they will increase funding and man power for Gotham's elite Major Crimes Unit, headed by Lt. Sarah Essen in an attempt to not only put an end to costume and super-powered criminals, but vigilantism as well…"

"We are saying this now, loud and clear," Footage of Commissioner Akins speaking at a podium outside of Gotham Central declared. "Vigilantism is and has been illegal in Gotham City and anyone taking the law into their own hands will be considered on the same level as the criminal they try to apprehend."

"So does this mean that the GCPD and City Hall are finally going to acknowledge the existence of Batman and Robin?" A reporter asked.

"Our official position has and will continue to be the same. Thank You…"

"It's about time," Sarah Essen, resting in her hospital bed said as she pressed the power button on the remote control to turn off the television. She hoped that this new increase in funding and manpower would make the MCU a major force in the city. Sarah winced in pain as she held her side. She suffered a concussion, broken ribs and flash burns after being caught in an explosion caused by Batman's cowl.

Sarah's attention turned to the door of her hospital room as a skinny red-headed girl with glasses entered wearing Bludhaven University clothes. She ran towards her mother and gave her a big hug, causing her to contort her face in pain. "Calm down Babs."

"I was so worried about you," Barbara Essen said, placing her head on her mother's chest as tears ran down her face. "I thought you were…"

"I was lucky…" Sarah said, looking out of her window, thinking about the mayor and the dozen officers that had been murdered that night.

"It's Batman's fault, isn't it." Barbara asked, as she took off her glasses and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"I was caught in an explosion he caused, yeah."

"Someone needs to stop him."

"Don't worry Babs, we will." Sarah began. "This new Batman is just running around recklessly, causing more harm than good."

"What do you mean 'new' Batman?"

"We saw him without his mask… I mean, he wore another mask underneath it, but he couldn't have been that much older than you and having worked with the Batman before, there is no way he could be that young, it has to be someone new… my guess is a former Robin…"

Barbara picked her head up and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. "I have to make a phone call, I'll be right back."

"You have to make a phone call at this hour?"

"Yeah…" Barbara hesitated. "My lab partner and I were working late at the library when I heard about what happened. I kinda left him hanging…"

"Wait, this boy wouldn't happen to be the one you've been telling me about? Tim is it? And working better not mean…"

"Mom…" Barbara screamed at her mother's implied thought.

"I hope you told him that your mother's a cop."

"Mom, I was being serious…"

"Alright, you know I'm just having some fun."

"I know Mom. I'll be right back." Barbara said as she exited the room. _Now it's my turn to look out for you._

* * *

Renee Montoya, who was suffering the same injuries as Lt. Essen, watched the same news broadcast in a room down the hall from her close friend when curvaceous auburn-haired woman entered her room. She wore a form-fitting red dress that hugged her shapely curves and didn't leave much to the imagination, and had been accessorized with a matching purse and sunglasses, even thought it was early in the morning. She took them off and looked at the Dominican detective with her brown eyes and let out a sigh of relief as she walked over to her as fast as her stiletto heels allowed her.

She sat on the edge of Renee's bed and gave her a huge hug, a hug she had hoped she would be able to give her since hearing about the explosion in Brunley. "I'm so happy you're safe. I was so worried." She said as she pulled away and looked into Renee's eyes. She pushed aside a strand of Renee's black hair with her long manicured nails and caressed her cheek. Renee leaned forward and began to pucker her lips, but the red-headed woman turned away and stood up.

"I'm sorry Kate." Renee apologized.

"Renee," Kate Kane whispered. "You know there's nothing I want to do more in the world than that, but we can't in public."

"There's no one here this early."

"You know I can't take that risk." Kate said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I know I'm sorry." Renee was sympathetic to Kate's fear, knowing her own experience when she was outed and subsequently disowned by her parents. Kate's parents had similar beliefs about their lifestyle and being that she was the heiress to a family fortune which rivaled the Wayne's made her a target for the paparazzi and would make coming out of the closet a huge media spectacle, one that Kate wished to avoid.

"You don't have to apologize." Kate said sitting back down on the bed, looking at Renee and smiled. "I promise that when you get out of here, I'm going to make it up to you."

"I can't wait." Renee said, returning the smile.Kate looked over her bandaged lover.

"How did this happen?"

"Batman… We cornered him and he took off his mask…"

"He took off his mask?" Kate couldn't believe what she heard.

"Yeah, but he had another mask underneath. Just like the one that Robin wears. He fell from pretty high up and I think his normal mask was damaged. Anyway, we cornered him and he detonated the mask. I was stupid enough to pick it up after he dropped it and Lt. Essen saved my life."

"What did Batman look like?" Kate asked.

"It's not like I can pick him out of a line up." Renee said.

"Well, what did you see?"

"Why are you so interested?" Renee asked Kate.

"I'm just curious." Kate said defensively. "If you don't want to tell me or can't, it's okay."

"The only new thing we now know is that he's Caucasian and has black hair. He didn't look to be older than his mid-twenties."

"So it is a new Batman…" Kate whispered to herself.

"What did you say?" Renee asked.

"Nothing…" Kate was about to make an excuse when he heard her phone vibrate in her purse. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID which displayed an O. "I have to take this," she began as she cupped Renee's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." Kate got up and let the room with her heels clicking on the floor as she walked out the door, leaving Renee confused.

* * *

Kate was about to flip open her phone when she noticed another red-head down the hall with her phone pressed to her ear pacing away from her. When she turned around and saw Kate, she gave a look of surprise and closed her phone. They walked towards each other and greeted each other with a hug.

"How's your mom, kiddo?" Kate asked.

"She's doing alright," Barbara replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing a friend… So were you going to call me about that project we talked about?"

"Yeah," Barbara said. "I'm in."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked, putting her hand on Barbara's shoulder. "It's going to be tougher now that the police are going to crack down on vigilantes."

"Don't worry; they don't have anyone as good as me."

Kate smiled. "Alright then, we'll begin to get you set up here in Gotham."

"Do we have anyone else that's going to be joining us?" Barbara asked as she began to walk down the hall with Kate.

"I have a list of people who might be interested." Kate said, putting her arm around the college student. "But right now, let's just concentrate on you and me." They walked down the hall unaware that Renee Montoya looked out of her door and had eavesdropped on the last part of their conversation.

* * *

**The ****Batcave**

"How are you feeling Miss Stephanie?" Alfred asked as he treated a cut on Stephanie's head.

"I'm feeling okay." Stephanie said as she flinched from the sting of the peroxide.

"I hope you have something that will take the smell of the Sprang River out of this costume."

"I think that should be the last of your worries." Alfred said as he placed a bandage over the cut. "You should start thinking about a story for your injuries."

"I already have one." Stephanie said as she looked over towards the Bat-computer, where Jason was sitting in silence, staring at the floor and his arm in a sling. "How's he?"

"Well, from what I can tell, he may have a fractured clavicle, bruised sternum and at least one concussion… he hasn't spoken since I retrieved both of you."

"He almost killed the Joker; he would have if I didn't stop him."

"Thank heavens you were there," Alfred said looking at a man who he considered a son, much like he did with Bruce. "I had feared what would happen when he went up against that mad man, what he might do, and if he would survive it…"

_It's the way things always end with the Joker… unresolved. _Jason thought as he sat in front of the Bat-computer. Jason reminisced about the other events of the evening about could only think: _I failed as Robin, I failed as the Red Hood to avenge Bruce, and now I'm a failure as Batman, no better than Jean-Paul. _He looked at the two memorials, one that was made for him that had his old Robin costume suspended in glass and the other he made for Bruce that suspended his Batsuit in a similar fashion.

Jason got up and walked to the forensic lab and placed his free hand on the table. _I'm not ready, I never was… I'm a failure… I can't measure up…Those police officers, the Mayor are all dead… I almost got Stephanie killed…_

Jason grabbed the edge of the lab table and flipped it over. All of the items on it crashed to the floor and shattered. Jason fell to his knees as the cave began to spin and his breathing became shorter and more rapid. He grabbed the collar of the Batsuit and yanked at it, trying to relieve the choking sensation he was feeling as he began to sweat profusely. Jason gasped for air as he fell to the floor.

"Jason, are you alright?" Stephanie asked as she rushed towards him and cradled his head in her arms. Alfred came up behind her with a medical kit and pulled out a syringe filled with sedative and injected Jason with it, who calmed down immediately.

"I can't do this anymore…" Jason said.

"Do what?" Stephanie asked, looking at Alfred, who was visibly worried.

"Batman, I can't do it anymore…" Jason said as he closed his eyes and let the feelings of the sedative relax him. "… I failed everyone… I can't measure up."

"It's alright Jason," Stephanie said. "You'll get through this and we'll help you." She picked him up with Alfred's help. "We'll get through this… together as partners."

_**The End**_


End file.
